America’s emergency health care system just got an upgrade with a virtual medical ID. Called the Invisible Bracelet (iB), the device would help emergency responders deliver optimum service to patients.
iB lets Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers know the patient’s personal health history at a glance. In case of a crisis, the bracelet would automatically notify the patient’s kin and acquaintances.
Using an HIPAA-compliant web service, iB lets responders in on vital health details crucial to maximum EMS. Among others, the device can temporarily equip EMS providers with read-only information like the patient’s allergies.
Better yet, iB can automatically send a text message to loved ones in case of an emergency. Should an ambulance be required, medics on standby in call centers can notify the patient’s In Case of Emergency (ICE) contacts. With so much as a button push, the medic can likewise notify a hospital in the vicinity.
Renewable yearly for $5, the service gives members a card with a computer-assigned PIN number. It can hold as much as 10 ICE contacts. It may also come as keychain flash drives or implanted microchips.
iBs are designed to set off tangible medical bracelets, like those for diabetics and asthmatics. In some ways, it could be better, insofar as healthy people can wear invisible bracelets.
iB was initiated by invisibleBracelet.org in Oklahoma in April and done in partnership with the American Ambulance Association, the largest network of EMS providers in the US.
Now it is set to take off nationwide, as the American Ambulance Association prepares to train medics in January 2010. Nearly 100,000 people have applied as medics since it launched. In addition, the University of Oklahoma is integrating it into its campus services.
When fully available in early 2010, the iB would be the first national emergency health registry system in the US.